Trump’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2018 Budget

Trump’s budget plan would eviscerate working families across America, hitting hardest the poor, disabled, elderly, and rural communities. Trump wants to gut Medicaid, CHIP (the program that provides health care to low-income kids), disability benefits, SNAP, Meals on Wheels, the student loan forgiveness program, as well as critical agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Interior.

Everyone should examine the details and hard realities of this plan. I hope the public adds its voice to make it more likely Congress will do its job and reject the reckless, misplaced priorities of this administration.

Here are some highlights of his proposed budget, that if enacted would make us less safe, less healthy, and less economically secure.

• Reduces Social Security benefits by up to $63 billion over 10 years, and targets Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).

• Eliminates all federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which would disproportionately impact low-income women and families. 

• Slashes Medicaid funding by $610 billion, which would force states to eliminate people’s health insurance coverage or reduce vital services.

• Proposes a 22% reduction in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). For Oregon, that means nearly $65 million NIH grant dollars lost in Fiscal Year 2018.

• Reduces $191 billion in funding from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). To make up for the lacking federal partnership, the state of Oregon would have to come up with $268 million.

• Cuts the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant by 10%.

• Eliminates the HOME Investment Partnership Program, which helps produce affordable housing options. This includes a more than $30 million dollar cut to the HOME program here in Oregon.

• Proposes a 43% percent cut to important Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) programs. That means more than 85,400 Oregonians would lose access to job training and employment services.

• Eliminates $100 billion in funding from the Highway Trust Fund, which analysts estimate would cost Oregonians 15,064 jobs between FY 2021 and FY 2027.

• Slashes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by 31%. This includes a 30% cut to the Superfund program – established to fund cleanup of hazardous waste sites. The budget proposal also eliminates the EPA Lead Categorical Grants program, which Oregon has benefitted from to fund lead-based paint abatement and renovation, minimizing lead dust hazards.

• Decreases the Department of the Interior budget by $1.6 billion. This agency operates the National Park Service, so the potential impact on national parks is deeply concerning.

• Eliminates $143 billion from federal student loans. This includes the elimination of federally subsidized loans and loan forgiveness programs for nurses, police officers, and teachers. This past year, in the Third Congressional District alone, 19,530 students received subsidized loans, totaling more than $74 million dollars.

• Slashes funding for the State Department and USAID by 31%. This means less funding for our global health programs (including a more than $150 million cut to international water, sanitation, and hygiene funding), international peacekeeping efforts, and contributions to international organizations, to name a few critical initiatives.

• Phases out public broadcasting by providing funding only for shutdown costs.

• In addition to halting federal support for public broadcasting, the budget zeros out three other pots of money for the Arts & Humanities — the National Endowment for the Arts ($148 million allocated last year), the National Endowment for the Humanities ($148 million), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services ($230 million).

• Calls for $639 billion in defense spending – a $52 billion boost above caps set by the Budget Control Act.

• Earmarks $1.6 billion to begin building a southern border wall.